The Big Toot

The Big Toot Tommy Meyer‭ ‬built is not the two-seat‭ ‬biplane his father envisioned‭. ‬“It was going to be a side-by-side version of Little Toot‭, ‬with longer wings like a back-staggered Beech‭,‬”‭ ‬said Meyer‭. ‬His father‭, ‬George W‭. ‬Meyer‭, ‬“was going to use Monocoupe landing gear with the wheels turned backwards‭, ‬where the wheels were pointing forward‭, ‬and he was going to cover the wheels with GeeBee-type‭ ‬wheel pants‭. ‬He said it was going to be a Big Toot for Mom and Dad to go flying in‭.‬”‭ ‬

With lifelong dedication, Tommy Meyer built on his father’s legacy by adding a second seat to his father’s renowned design.

A skilled metalworker who worked for Curtiss-Wright‭ ‬and later the U.S‭. ‬Navy at several aircraft maintenance‭ ‬depots‭, ‬George Meyer designed and invested six years building Little Toot‭, ‬a single-seat homebuilt biplane that first flew in the‭ ‬early 1950s‭. ‬He named it after the Walt Disney character‭ ‬that had possessed his son‭, ‬Tommy‭, ‬Little Toot the tugboat‭.‬

A few preliminary drawings were as far as his father got on Big Toot‭, ‬said Tommy‭, ‬now 75‭. ‬“As time goes by‭, ‬Dad developed brain cancer and then cancer in the lungs‭. ‬Before he died‭ [‬in 1982‭], ‬Dad said‭, ‬‘Tom‭, ‬if you get around to it‭, ‬would you build Big Toot‭?‬’‭ ‬I said‭, ‬‘Sure‭, ‬I’ll do it‭!‬’‭ ‬It has taken me 20‭ ‬years to develop the pay grade to do such a thing‭.‬”

Tommy Meyer and Kelly Swafford extend a full-size drawing of Big Toot’s fuselage side in the R.K. Swafford Company shop.

He started work on Big Toot in 2003‭. ‬“I’m not an engineer‭,‬”‭ ‬said Meyer‭. ‬“I don’t have the wherewithal to build‭ ‬the airplane he envisioned‭.‬”‭ ‬But as an‭ ‬engineering draftsman he could build a larger version of Little Toot‭, ‬and the‭ ‬drawings he worked from are the legacy’s primary familial link‭. ‬

“My dad told me‭, ‬I don’t care what courses you take in junior high and high school‭, ‬but I would like you take one course every year‭, ‬and that is drafting‭. ‬You can learn so many things as a draftsman‭, ‬geometry‭, ‬how to figure things out on paper‭. ‬I did that every year through two‭ ‬years of college‭.‬”‭ ‬

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While Meyer was in high school‭, ‬Arlo Schroeder wanted to build a Little Toot and pestered his dad for plans‭. ‬Because he’d built the biplane for himself‭, ‬it had little more than rudimentary drawings and sketches‭, ‬Meyer said‭. ‬“Dad said they‭ ‬were so bad‭, ‬people can’t hardly read‭ ‬them‭, ‬and he asked me to redraw them‭.‬”‭ ‬

Big Toot, with the original Little Toot, at the Meyer Aircraft Company hangar at the Northwest Regional Airport north of Fort Worth, Texas.

Meyer recreated the Little Toot’s‭ ‬drawings again when his employer at‭ ‬the time‭, ‬Mobil‭, ‬transitioned its draftsmen from pen and ink to computer‭ ‬augmented design‭. ‬For training‭, ‬it‭ ‬encouraged them to provide their own practice plans‭. ‬Today‭, ‬with a CAD system and roll printer in his home shop‭, ‬Meyer can produce full-scale drawings for every part of Big Toot‭, ‬and almost every part of Little Toot‭, ‬allowing builders to use them at 1:1‭ ‬patterns‭. ‬

Swafford built a fixture, with a sensitive scale, to balance Big Toot’s ailerons.

Designing Big Toot

“If I can draw it‭, ‬I can build it‭,‬”‭ ‬Meyer said‭. ‬To make room for Big Toot’s second seat‭, ‬he extended the steel-tube‭ ‬fuselage 3‭ ‬feet‭, ‬and‭ ‬“I made it wider‭ (‬27‭ ‬inches wide to the outside of the tubing‭), ‬so big guys could get in the thing‭.‬”

Contrary to biplane convention‭, ‬the‭ ‬pilot-in-command sits up front‭. ‬“Everyone told me I was crazy to do this‭,‬”‭ ‬said Meyer‭, ‬“but that’s where the pilot sits in all of the tandem Van’s Aircraft RVs‭.‬”‭ ‬

The bug eyes and cowling almost ready for paint.

Joe Flood‭, ‬who has logged a lot of‭ ‬biplane time‭, ‬including both Toots‭, ‬approves of the position‭. ‬“You can see‭ ‬over the nose in both of them‭, ‬so you don’t need to S-turn when taxiing‭.‬”‭ ‬Both cockpits have controls‮—‬stick‭, ‬throttle‭, ‬rudder‭ ‬pedals‭, ‬and brakes‮—‬so the back-seater‭ ‬can land the biplane‭, ‬if needed‭. ‬Only the‭ ‬front has instruments and avionics‭.‬

Big Toot inherited the structural‭ ‬limits of its predecessor‭, ‬said Meyer‭. ‬Working at the Naval Air Station Corpus Christi‭, ‬his dad shared Little Toot’s designs with the aircraft depot’s structural and aerodynamic engineers‭, ‬said Meyer‭. ‬“They agreed that the airplane would be good for plus or minus 10‭ ‬G‭, ‬just as my dad calculated‭.‬”

Building Big Toot

Without apology‭, ‬Meyer describes‭ ‬himself as a sentimental person‭. ‬“If you think that you can build an airplane and‭ ‬say you built every part of it without‭ ‬asking someone for help‭, ‬you’re the biggest liar in the world‭.‬”‭ ‬

Look closely at Big Toot and you’ll‭ ‬see the names of those who helped‭ ‬Meyer‭. ‬Some are under the horizontal stabilizer‭, ‬and all of them are on the fuselage fuel tank‭, ‬what he calls the airplane’s‭ ‬“time capsule‭.‬”‭ ‬Neatly painted on the 6-gallon header tank between the pilot’s feet‭, ‬part of the inverted fuel‭ ‬system‭, ‬is Meyer’s dedication to his family legacy‭: ‬“In loving memory of‭ ‬my father‭, ‬George Walter Meyer‭, ‬final request and dreams‭, ‬build Big Toot‭.‬”‭ ‬

Big Toot came to life in Meyer’s well-equipped home shop‭, ‬which might double as a showroom for Mittler Brothers tools‭. ‬“I have‭ $‬250,000‭ ‬in Big Toot‭,‬”‭ ‬he said‭, ‬and a good portion of that went to the Wright City‭, ‬Missouri‭, ‬company for metal brakes and shears‭, ‬a tube notcher‭, ‬and‭ ‬beading tools that will repay Meyer Aircraft’s investment by making parts for the Toots‭. ‬

Interested in buying a set of Little‭ ‬Toot plans‭, ‬“He stopped by the shop‭ ‬when I was cutting out ribs and asked what I was doing‭. ‬In explaining‭, ‬I said it took about three hours to build a rib after I cut out all the parts‭. ‬He asked if I had some of that wood so he could show me how quickly he could cut out the parts‭.‬”

Swafford returned several days later with stacks of perfectly cut wood‭. ‬“This should make building those ribs a lot faster‭,‬”‭ ‬he said‭, ‬“and I cut me some out‭, ‬too‭.‬”‭ (‬Swafford has since CNCed a one-piece rib from an aluminum billet‭.)‬

Meyer gave the rib pieces to‭ ‬“a friend‭, ‬Phil Witt‭, ‬a model airplane guy who had a heart attack and the doctor wouldn’t let him do anything strenuous‭; ‬bored‭, ‬he asked for something to do‭; ‬he built the ribs for Big Toot‭.‬”

While still waiting for its wings, but fitted with the canopy, Big Toot shows off its burly six-cylinder Lycoming.

The ribs are‭ ‬1/8‭-‬inch ply with‭ ‬1/2‭-‬inch spruce cap strips‭. ‬The spars have aluminum crush plugs‭, ‬so tightening the bolts that pass through them will not damage the wood’s grain‭. ‬To position those holes‭, ‬Meyer printed full-scale spar drawings‭ ‬and glued them in place‭. ‬He measured‭ ‬again before making holes‭, ‬and‭ ‬“it was off only‭ ‬1/32‭ ‬from one end to the other‭.‬”‭ ‬Steen Aero Lab provided the seamless‭, ‬preformed plywood leading edge‭.‬

To make building and maintenance easier, removable metal panels cover Big Toot’s fuselage from the cockpit forward.

With the fuselage fully tack-welded‭, ‬Meyer mounted it in the rotisserie he made‭. ‬The rotating fixture is essential‭. ‬“To TIG weld well‭, ‬you need to be comfortable‭. ‬Final welding on the fuselage‭ ‬takes hours and hours‭, ‬and you need‭ ‬to work on different joints so the heat doesn’t build up and distort the fuselage‭ ‬because of asymmetric expansion‭.‬”

With the same size wheels‭, ‬Little’s‭ ‬wheel pants streamline those on Big‭. ‬Like the wheel pants on a Cessna‭, ‬Meyer said‭, ‬a center bolt holds the pant in place‭. ‬Over time‭, ‬they can come loose‭, ‬so he designed an aluminum teardrop that fits on the outside of the pant and keeps the wheel pant nut‭ ‬on the axle from coming loose‭. ‬

A Dallas-area artist created the Toot tugboat artwork (right) that represents the Meyers, father and son.

Cockpit & Cover

The tandem cockpit is 27 inches wide, with the pilot at the front.

A side-hinged canopy covers the pilot‭ ‬and passenger‭. ‬When closed‭, ‬grabbing one of the round‭, ‬red Gold Medal popcorn popper knobs slides it fore and aft to position six stainless steel locking pins into their fuselage-mounted fairleads‭. ‬“I got the idea from the Pitts Model 12‭ ‬canopy‭,‬”‭ ‬said Meyer‭. ‬He drew the‭ ‬canopy with 9‭ ‬inches of head clearance in the back seat and sent full-size drawings to Jeff Rogers at Airplane Plastics‭. ‬“A place in Dallas bent the square tubing‭ ‬that makes up the canopy frame‭.‬”

Meyer covered Big Toot with Poly‭-‬Fiber and a lot of wet sanding‭. ‬He‭ ‬learned the secret to‭ ‬“absolutely smooth leading edge from a Little Toot builder‭, ‬who explained that wrapping the upper‭ ‬and lower fabric around the leading edge and back to the forward spar didn’t need tape‭.‬”‭ ‬

A GRT Avionics EFIS dominates Big Toot’s instrument panel.

Meyer made it even smoother by‭ ‬sticking a layer of white felt over the‭ ‬pre-doped leading edge‭. ‬“When you‭ ‬shrink the Poly-Fiber‭, ‬it compresses the felt smooth‭. ‬The only tape you need is where the wingtip hits the first tip rib‭.‬”‭ ‬In addition to pre-doping the covered structure with Poly Tak‭, ‬Meyer‭ ‬“melts the edges of the pinking tapes into the glue with a Monocote iron‭.‬”

The N-number‭, ‬N64LT‭, ‬unites Little‭ ‬Toot with its designer’s EAA member number‭, ‬which EAA reassigned to Tommy at his father’s passing‭.‬

Big Toot returned from Dusold Designs with a ceramic-lined stainless steel exhaust system that includes its smoke-oil injectors.

Firewall Forward

Little Toot flies behind a 150-hp‭ ‬Lycoming‭, ‬and Meyer wanted the commensurate power in its two-seat sibling‭. ‬To build engine mounts‭, ‬he found a holed IO-540‭ ‬case with the same mounts as his new Lycoming‭. ‬

Meyer mounted a‭ ‬3/8‭-‬inch-thick steel‭ ‬plate to the table his dad used to make engine mounts and glued Toot’s firewall drawing to it‭. ‬In addition to the necessary holes‭, ‬the drawing includes the‭ ‬thrust line‭, ‬along which the crankshaft should align‭. ‬

To achieve this‭, ‬Meyer mounted a‭ ‬dummy crankshaft to a 15.5-inch round steel plate with four holes tapped for‭ ‬3/8-18‭ ‬bolts that enable the necessary offsets‭ (‬2°‭ ‬down and 2°‭ ‬right‭, ‬measured with a digital level‭) ‬when the plate is mounted over the thrust line shown on the drawing affixed to the table‭.‬‭ ‬

The Lycoming IO-540’s ceramic-lined exhaust system is mounted entirely to the engine.

To mount and move the case on the‭ ‬aligned crankshaft‭, ‬Swafford made slip‭ ‬sleeves so Meyer could locate the starter‭ ‬ring where it needed to be in the cowling‭. ‬“When it was all locked in place‭, ‬I installed the mounts and engine rubbers and welded‭ ‬it‭,‬”‭ ‬said Meyer‭. ‬“It’s just near perfect‭.‬”

Dusold fitted the IO-540‭ ‬with a ceramic-lined‭, ‬stainless steel exhaust‭ ‬system that collects the six cylinders into two Saber Stacks‭ ‬“tuned like musical instruments‭,‬”‭ ‬Meyer said‭. ‬Injectors used in a race car’s nitrous oxide system squirt smoke oil into the exhaust‭. ‬Without a fuselage connection‭, ‬the exhaust‭ ‬“moves with the engine because the‭ ‬two big augmenter tubes are held by a trunnion that bolts to a boss on the bottom of the oil pan‭.‬”

Standpipe caps pressurize the 9-gallon wing tanks with ram air, and sitting up front, the pilot in command can see over the nose.

Cowling the Lycoming was one of‭ ‬Toot’s top challenges‭. ‬“Bug eyes”‭ ‬is‭ ‬what Meyer calls the cheeky air inlets on Little Toot’s cowling‭. ‬With his dad’s molds‭, ‬he wondered if it would fit the IO-540‭. ‬“They fit perfectly‭! ‬All I’d have to do is split the cowling down the middle to make it fit top and bottom‭.‬”‭ ‬After‭ ‬hours of sculpturing‭, ‬scraping‭, ‬and‭ ‬sanding the new mold of foam and filler‭, ‬“it really breaks your heart to break the‭ ‬plug out of the mold‭.‬”‭ ‬

With all of its pieces in place‭, ‬Big Toot‭ ‬got on the scales‭. ‬With its front-seat‭ ‬pilot‭, ‬260-horse Lycoming‭, ‬and Hartzell constant-speed prop‭, ‬its center of gravity‭ ‬was at the forward limit‭. ‬Putting the pilot in the back seat really wasn’t an‭ ‬option because there were no instruments‭, ‬so Meyer looked at the prop and its governor‭, ‬which weighed 74‭ ‬pounds‭. ‬

Seeking a solution‭, ‬he called Catto Propellers‭. ‬“Craig said‭, ‬‘Give me all the specs on the airplane‭, ‬and I’ll build you a prop that weighs only 22‭ ‬pounds‭.‬’‭ ‬I sent him the specs with a cruise-speed goal of 155‭ ‬to 165‭, ‬and I had the prop in a week‭.‬”‭ ‬

Having already made a number of‭ ‬parts for the airplane‭, ‬Swafford had‭ ‬many of Toot’s drawings‭, ‬Meyer said‭, ‬but not the ailerons‭. ‬“I sent him those drawings‭, ‬took the ailerons off‭, ‬and met him at his shop at 6‭ ‬o’clock the next morning to balance them in a fixture he’d made that included a sensitive scale‭.‬”‭ ‬

The aileron’s trailing edge weighed‭ ‬1.2‭ ‬pounds‭, ‬and Swafford started adding weight until they balanced‭, ‬Meyer said‭. ‬“Then Kelly did the math to figure the mass of the counterweight and CNCed a mold to cast counterweights that fit the aileron’s leading edge perfectly‭. ‬There’s 10‭ ‬pounds in each wing‭, ‬and we designed new aileron hinges to carry the load‭.‬”

Meyer Aircraft & R.K. Swafford Company

George Meyer formed his eponymous company in the 1950s, and Tommy assumed the helm when his father got sick. Originally, it existed to sell plans, and it still does, but making parts for the Toots, in partnership with the R.K. Swafford Company, is its sustaining mission.

“We make all the fairings and cowlings and fittings, and we’ll offer prewelded fuselage frames,” said Meyer. Meyer is nearing completion of Big Toot plans that incorporate all of the design’s changes, which are embodied in the Big Toot “Kelly is now building; he’s also developing fixtures and processes for the parts.”

When the plans, with many components depicted 1:1, are finished, Meyer will announce their availability on the Meyer Aircraft website. Builders can build from the plans, or they can work with parts made by Meyer Aircraft/R.K. Swafford Company.

Working from these parts, he said, “builders should be able to complete their Big Toot in three years or less,” depending on how often they work on it. “You have to be dedicated to yourself and dedicated to the project—my dad taught me—and work on it every day, do something every day.

Scott Spangler A pilot since 1976, Spangler was the founding editor of Flight Training magazine. In 1999 he launched and edited NAFI Mentor for the National Association of Flight Instructors, and for seven years was editor in chief of EAA publications. As a freelancer he’s written for Air & Space Smithsonian, Overhaul & Maintenance, Aviation for Women, Twin & Turbine and a number of non-aviation titles.

1 COMMENT

Excellent article and I can validate the very large effort that Tommy put into this airplane. I worked for his dad when Tommy was still a boy and we reconnected years later and I stand in awe of the labor that Tommy put into Big Toot.